Sarah Palin Fires Off New Round Of Metaphors

by Alex BalkMarch 29, 2010

This weekend Sarah Palin dismissed suggestions that her cries of “RELOAD” and a graphic “targeting” representatives who voted in favor of health care reform were in any ways an incitement to violence. “When we talk about fighting for our country, let’s clear the air right now about what it is that we’re talking about,” she said at a Tea Party rally in Nevada. “Don’t get sucked into the lame-stream media lies.” Then she took to her Facebook page to discuss March Madness.

To the teams that desire making it this far next year: Gear up! In the battle, set your sights on next season’s targets! From the shot across the bow — the first second’s tip-off — your leaders will be in the enemy’s crosshairs, so you must execute strong defensive tactics. You won’t win only playing defense, so get on offense! The crossfire is intense, so penetrate through enemy territory by bombing through the press, and use your strong weapons — your Big Guns — to drive to the hole. Shoot with accuracy; aim high and remember it takes blood, sweat and tears to win.

Focus on the goal and fight for it. If the gate is closed, go over the fence. If the fence is too high, pole vault in. If that doesn’t work, parachute in. If the other side tries to push back, your attitude should be “go for it.” Get in their faces and argue with them. (Sound familiar?!) Every possession is a battle; you’ll only win the war if you’ve picked your battles wisely. No matter how tough it gets, never retreat, instead RELOAD!

She’s clearly having fun here, and even if you make the case that using charged language like “reload” and imagery including gun sights is a deliberate attempt to at least imply, if not suggest, violence, you have to admit it: This is a brilliant new method of post-modern reverse-dog whistle parody that once again proves Sarah Palin knows exactly what she’s doing. Or not. The genius of the Sarah Palin method is that it works either way!